News Desk |
The Indian intelligence and security personnel harassed on Thursday the guests arriving for the traditional Iftar dinner at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. News of harassment of guests invited for Iftar at Pakistan High Commission emerged on Thursday. This the second time in one year when the Indian government has humiliated guests whom the Pakistan High Commission had invited for an event.
https://www.facebook.com/globalvillagespace/videos/2218302544952385/
Previously, in March, the Indian security personnel had used similar tactics to harass the guests heading to the high commission for the Pakistan Day celebrations. On Thursday, The Tribune – an India newspaper – reported that videos emerged of security personnel outside the Pakistan High Commission rummaging in vehicles.
The Indian intelligence and security personnel harassed on Thursday the guests arriving for the traditional Iftar dinner at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Plainclothesmen were seen asking invitees for identity cards that were then photographed while men of presumably another security agency was seen writing down I-card numbers of the invitees. “There may be prospects of a thaw in the Indo-Pak relations butties at the ground level continue to be hostile as the latest incident that occurred outside the Pakistan High Commission shows,” The Tribune said.
https://www.facebook.com/globalvillagespace/videos/630174060818618/
The paper said that Pakistan is understood to have decided to protest against the harassment. In the videos, a large number of men in civvies presumed to be the officials of the intelligence agencies as well as the police officials have surrounded a car and forcing the guest to come out of the vehicle in a threatening tone.
Read more: Will Modi take U-turn for peace with Pakistan? – M.K Bhadrakumar
“We have decided on a full-court press [against Pakistan],” The Tribune quoted an intelligence official as saying, who further declined to comment on the incident. The paper speculated that the harassment might cast a shadow on the Iftar scheduled by Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria on Friday as security agencies of both countries reciprocate with full measure.
India boycotts Pakistan Day Celebrations
The close questioning of invitees, an aggressive search of some of the cars and exhortations by uniformed and plainclothes security personnel was a repeat of the intimidation on Pakistan Day celebrations at the same venue in March this year. At that time, security personnel were heard asking invitees to join the Indian government in boycotting the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Previously, in March, the Indian security personnel had used similar tactics to harass the guests heading to the high commission for the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Also, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had announced that it would not attend the Pakistan Day Parade on 23rd March, despite the official invitation. Nonetheless, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor’s had shared a video on his Twitter account showing the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi celebrating Pakistan Day with immense zeal and fervor.
Political commentators said that the humiliating treatment meted out to the guests shows that the Modi government is now frightening Indian citizens from making contacts with Pakistani mission and diplomats. “This is another low point between India and Pakistan relationships,” said a political analyst, “situation had never reached that kind of tipping point before the rise of Hindutva politics in India.”
Read more: Indian high commissioner visits Imran Khan: Will this be the beginning…
It looks as if Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is now directly ruling, he said, because the kind of street vigilantism which RSS used to do on streets is now being practiced by Delhi police on visitors to Pakistan Embassy. The net result of such intimidation is fear and discouragement and that is why very few guests attended the event. He feared that “this climate of fear will further break the relations between Indian citizens and Pakistan.”
Negative Impact on Intellectuals
The high commissions in Delhi and Islamabad annually invite people for Iftar but this is the first time when the guests were harassed to this extent – sending a clear message to writers, authors, journalists, academics, diplomats, and businessmen that they were not only being watched but will have to face the music for attending such events.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad had announced that it would not attend the Pakistan Day Parade on 23rd March, despite the official invitation.
These people maintain an active link to the Pakistan High Commission for various reasons but the way the Indian officials have treated them on Thursday leaves less to the imagination as to what might happen the next time when one is invited or decides to attend an event at the Pakistan mission in New Delhi.
Apparently, the Modi government is bent upon breaking down the cultural, social and political link between the people of two countries by exercising such intimidating tactics.
Read more: Pakistan wishes to re-engage in dialogue after elections: High Commissioner
BJP used Pakistan card in elections
On May 23, Narendra Modi returned to power for another five-year term. Defying the pre-poll forecast, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition won a comfortable majority, riding on the wave of Hindu nationalism and aggressive national security slogans. Modi’s BJP and major political parties have long been using Pakistan card in the election manifestos in India.
The anti-Pakistan sentiments have flared in India in the past five years on multiple occasions, prompting many of the members from the BJP to perpetuate such sentiments overtly, two academics stated in The Diplomat’s article titled “The Pakistan Factor in the 2019 Indian General Elections”. One common line of attack is to openly ask dissenting voices to “go to Pakistan”, they said.
The high commissions in Delhi and Islamabad annually invite people for Iftar but this is the first time when the guests were harassed to this extent.
The academics – Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal and Manasvi Shanker Sharma – argued that regardless of who is in power, the opposition always bats for a “harder line” on Pakistan, and this resonates with the average Indian voter, who has always been deeply suspicious of Pakistan. As a result, they said, the ruling party in India is always wary of appearing too compromising when it comes to Pakistan, for fear of inviting the wrath of both the opposition and the voters.
The academics have admitted in the articles that “Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan has made several offers for talks, but these have been repeatedly rebuffed by India”, on the pretext that “terror and talks can’t go together.” Strange as it may seem but as the writers had predicted in their article published in January this year, Modi Sarkar played the Pakistan card in the elections.
Read more: Four Pakistan High Commission Officials May Have To Leave India
The political commentators said that Modi was able to shape a grand “anti-Pakistan” narrative during his election campaign. It is pertinent to note that the western and international intelligentsia, as well as diplomats, somehow believe that Pakistan is not approaching to India but in reality, the Modi government has been playing optics since 2014.
Political analysts in Pakistan, however, believe that it is the strategic thinking of Indian government for the last 15 to 20 years that there will be no meaningful engagement with Pakistan as it might provide breathing space to the arch-rival. They said India wishes to isolate Pakistan in the international community and for that, it can go to any extent.